Wine #1

About a year ago my doctor suggested I start drinking four glasses of red wine per week to serve as an internal salve against heart disease. Sounded like a good idea and I did it for about a month. Unfortunately, I found myself slumped over in my chair by 9:30 every night unable to finish an OOTP baseball game, catch the 10pm showing of Top Chef with Jen or enjoy my latest Murray Rothbard read.

So I gave it up. Until now.

Earlier this month I grabbed two $10-$15 bottles of red wine. In honor of the only European country I've ever been to I picked up two Spanish wines. I bought a Rioja and a Carchelo. After a two week search for our wine opener I opened the Carchelo this evening and had a glass. I'm still awake, hence the post.

Along with the word Carchelo the label contains the year it was made - 2005 - and the words Monastrell and Jumilla. Illiterate as I am about wine I have called on the internet to help me make sense of what I've just drank. From the website classicalwines.com comes this description and praise from Jay Miller of Wine Advocate.

"Dark ruby-colored with a nose of meat, leather, earth and blackraspberry which jumps from the glass. Medium-bodied, the wine is ripe and roundon the palate with lots of juicy fruit, is nicely balanced, and ideal for quaffing over the next 2-3 years. - 87 points"--- February 2007

I'm assuming that's 87 out of 100 possible points. I guess that's not too bad for a wine. And what does quaffing mean? I reference this definition from wine-lovers-page.com.

"A wine that's simple but refreshing, prompting easy swigging rather than thoughtful contemplation. See 'gulpable.' "

Ok, well I'm glad I didn't take myself too seriously tonight as I worked over my first glass. Anyway, again referencing classicalwines.com, the word Monastrell refers to the single indigenous variety of grape plant that occupies the Jumilla region of Spain. The plant grows in desert-like conditions and it's not until recently that wines from the region have been considered to be at least average.

My experience this evening with the wine occurred over a plate of Trader Joe's pasta, Trader Joe's low-salt spaghetti sauce and some grated cheese. The wine part of the experience was just average. (The pasta experience was, as always, greatly above average). I will now explain myself. My initial attempts at describing the wine that I've just drunk will probably sound elementary to some, understandable to others and lovable to friends and family. So here goes.

The wine was warm and very prickly entering my mouth and I gulped the first swig down my gullet much to quickly. The strength of the wine caused my voice to weaken for about ten embarrassing seconds. I played it off well, though, and I don't think Jen realized how close I was to spitting it back up. The second gulp was more tolerable and by the time I'd worked my way halfway down the glass I was in a comfort zone. By then large scoops of pasta and then sips of wine were alternating in my mouth making the Carchelo all the more enjoyable.

On a scale of 1-10 the strength of the wine was an 8.14 and I didn't particularly enjoy the wine's style in the sense that the many different flavors overwhelmed me and didn't allow me to concentrate on any one trait that the wine may have had to offer. So the overall rating (1-10) that I'll give this particular glass of wine is a 4.67.

Four glasses of wine a week is my prescription. That means four wine posts a week, eh?